Center Mass

by Lani Lynn Vale

  Then he found my clit, hot, pulsing and distended.

  He circled the skin surrounding my clit, knowing exactly what I liked best after the last four months of learning each other’s bodies.

  He knew that if he kept it up, I’d top the crest in a matter of moments.

  Milliseconds, even.

  Which I did, moments later, as the added movement of his fingers, paired with the delicious moment of his cock inside of me, hurtled me over the precipice.

  I screamed loudly into the pillow as my sex clenched down on his cock.

  My hand moved down on its own accord to cup his balls as he sped up his thrusts.

  They were low and swinging. However, they weren’t like that for long.

  After less than a minute of his continuous thrusting, his balls tightened and pulled up to his body, just before I felt the rush of his seed jetting deep inside of me.

  “Oh, God,” he moaned into my neck, sinking his teeth back into my shoulder.

  I moaned with him, still riding the last waves of my orgasm as he rammed inside of me. Hard.

  I felt each jet of his come splash against my inner walls, and I pulsated around his length, even after his orgasm subsided.

  “I swear, it gets better every single time,” he confirmed. Something he’d been saying each subsequent time we’d been together.

  I shook my head, closing my eyes as he withdrew from me.

  I still didn’t move when I felt the dribble of his come as it leaked out of my core.

  I was too tired. Exhausted and sated.

  Which he must’ve realized because he came back to me moments after leaving the bed and started cleaning up the mess he’d made.

  We’d decided, after mutually having tests run to prove our health status, that we would forego condoms on account of me already being on birth control.

  I’d been getting the shot since I’d had Rowen, so it seemed of little consequence to me to continue using two forms of birth control when what we both wanted was to feel each other skin on skin.

  It was messy, though. And I’d yet to find a way to get around not washing the sheets during moments of spontaneity. Which happened a lot when we both had young kids that demanded our attention.

  It was quickies here and there, instead of long slow nights. However, it worked for us, the way we were doing it, and neither one of us had any complaints.

  “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way,” he said collapsing on the bed. “Tell me what happened to make you so pissy.”

  I glared at him from my position, ass still in the air.

  “Got that out of the way?” I asked, raising a brow at him.

  He nodded and grinned over at me. “Yes. Out of the way.”

  I gripped the pillow I had under my head, hauled back, and whacked him.

  He laughed, shaking the bed with his exuberance.

  Then I face planted into his chest when he hooked an arm around my neck and pulled me forward. “I want you like a drunk needs a shot of whiskey. I like the burn…but I also need the high fucking you gives me. I haven’t felt this good in years. Being with you makes me happy. So why, might I ask, is it a bad thing that I wanted to fuck you?”

  I pinched his nipple. Then went for it.

  “Weston wants to take Rowen to Anita’s old place in Arkansas for Thanksgiving Day. And I have to let him. The only good part is I get her back the day after Thanksgiving.”

  Silence. Dead silence.

  Then he had to go and make my day worse.

  “I know that it’s disappointing, but he is Rowen’s father,” Luke said slowly.

  I rolled away from him and sat up, glaring at him.

  “Well, what the hell am I supposed to do for Thanksgiving now? She’s been with me for the last five years. It’s not a holiday without her.”

  Then he had to continue with being annoying.

  “I’d invite you to my Thanksgiving, but my mother invited Lydia, and there’s no way around you seeing her if you were to come. And I know you have a problem with her,” Luke said as he stood up at the edge of my bed.

  My heart clenched. Why did they invite her? I refused to ask, though. That wasn’t my right, yet. Luke and I were new. Too new for me to pull out the jealous girlfriend card so early in the game.

  “I really don’t have a problem with her. As long as I don’t see her. Hear her voice or her name…and possibly smell her. I’ll be all right,” I tried, knowing it was a lost cause.

  He gave me droll look as he yanked his jeans up over his bare ass.

  “Did I ask to be invited to your Thanksgiving?” I asked.

  I hadn’t said that, had I?

  That would’ve made me sound desperate. And Reese Francesca Doherty didn’t do desperate.

  “I just wanted you to know that I would love to have you there, but it’d be better if you weren’t,” he said slowly.

  I laid down, pulling the comforter up over my head.

  “When do you have to leave?” I asked.

  I heard him laugh softly. “Five minutes ago.”

  “Was it really worth coming all the way over here for that?” I asked. “You could’ve just waited until I was ready to talk about it.”

  I felt him lean over the bed, fists planted on either side of my body.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say it was a waste of my time. I’m leaving happy. I’ll talk to you tonight, okay?” He asked, giving me a kiss on the cheek through the comforter I refused to remove from my face.

  I nodded. “Yeah, fine.”

  He sighed. “It’ll be okay, baby. Rowen will be fine. You’ll see.”

  I sure as hell hoped so.

  Chapter 14

  Your face. I like that shit.

  -Coffee Mug

  Reese

  “Why don’t you come over here?” My sister asked.

  I looked at the clock next to my bed where I’d been laying for four hours and sighed.

  “Okay. What do I need to bring?” I asked.

  It was Thanksgiving Day, and I was alone. My parent’s flight had been delayed due to a storm. Something that half the United States was having to deal with at this moment. Apparently, planes couldn’t fly in snowstorms. Nor could they land on a runway covered in ice. Who knew?

  That equaled out to me not having anywhere to go for the first time ever.

  And my baby sister was having pity on me.

  “Just yourself. Make sure you take a shower and brush your teeth, though. I don’t want you to embarrass me,” she quipped.

  She had no clue how true that statement really was.

  “Okay,” I said. “What time do I need to be there?”

  “I’ll come now to get you. I want to drink,” she said. “It’s just going to be Grayson’s dad and us. Small and intimate. And you can all laugh at my cooking.”

  That wasn’t a joke, either.

  My sister had tried to do the turkey three years ago, and it’d ended in a disaster.

  “Thanks you, sis,” I said softly.

  Her voice softened. “I love you.”

  My eyes closed, and I barely held back a sob. “I love you, too.”

  ***

  “He really told you that you couldn’t come?” My sister asked in surprise as she stirred what looked to be turkey gravy on the stove.

  “Yes,” I confirmed. “He said that Lydia was going to be there and that it was in my best interest not to come.”

  “He’s fucking her,” Grayson’s father, Booney, said.

  That hadn’t been far off from my own thoughts.

  The harder I tried to forget about what Luke had said, the easier it became for me to plant that little seed of doubt.

  After all, I only had experience with very few relationships. And with Weston, it had been so beyond toxic that it was more than obvious to me that I didn’t have the best judgment when it came to guys.

  “Just get drunk, honey, and you’ll forget,” Booney said, offering me a glass of whiskey.

  I to
ok the glass, remembering what Luke had said after we’d made love the last time. Comparing me to a glass of whiskey.

  Then I shrugged the memory off. “Bottoms up.”

  The drink burned going down, boiling in my stomach for a few long seconds before it settled into a nice, delicious warmth.

  “Wow,” I said, shivering at the feeling. “This is good.”

  Grayson walked in and saw me with the empty glass in my hand.

  “You know,” he murmured laughingly. “I managed to keep that bottled for ten years now, and you two come over for a Thanksgiving dinner, and it’s opened and half drank before I even realize you have it.”

  I winked at him, looping my arm around Booney’s shoulders. “You snooze, you lose.”

  He mock glared. “It was a nap. I’m allowed to take a nap. It’s Thanksgiving after all.”

  “Yes,” I said, pulling another cup down from the cabinet. “You’re also allowed to drink.”

  ***

  Luke

  “What’s wrong, honey?” My mother asked softly.

  I sat on my stool with my back to the counter and watched my daughter play with Baylee’s kids.

  Lydia was on the chair across the room, smiling at the kid’s antics.

  “I think I fucked up,” I said.

  My stomach didn’t feel right.

  I couldn’t get ahold of Reese, and it was just making it worse knowing she was alone when she could’ve been with me.

  “Well there’s nothing new with that. But what is it this time?” She asked, pulling the rolls from the oven and placing them on the hot pad next to the stove.

  “Lydia. She shouldn’t be here,” I murmured softly.

  My mother’s brows creased. “Why?”

  I’d never told my mom why Lydia and I had broken up.

  Only Baylee knew, and she understood my desire to keep it quiet.

  Lydia’s parents were best friends with my parents. They didn’t need to have that coming between them, not when they were so close.

  “I met someone about four months ago. And I feel like shit because I know she’s spending Thanksgiving alone and I told her not to come,” I said softly. “I knew Lydia would be here and I didn’t want to make it awkward for everyone.”

  “You’re seeing Lydia and some other woman?” My mother gasped.

  My head snapped around, and I barked. “No! Why would you think that?”

  In fact, I was a little hurt.

  Why would my mom think that? When had I ever given her that impression that I was that kind of man?

  “You just told me you met someone. Don’t you think that if you met someone, you wouldn’t have a girlfriend?” My mom asked, gesturing towards Lydia.

  “Luke’s not seeing that bitch. He’s seeing some cute school nurse,” my sister supplied helpfully as she inserted herself into our conversation as she always did. “And she has a badass car. Daddy would like it.”

  My mother’s mouth dropped open. “Then why did I invite Lydia if you have another girlfriend?”

  “I don’t know, mom. Why did you?” Baylee drawled.

  My father, with the one track mind, chose that moment to butt in. “What kind of car is it?”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s a ’69 Charger. It’s candy apple red with a 454. Sounds fucking sweet.”

  “But then why’d her parents tell me y’all were back together?” Mom asked.

  Turning back to her, I answered. “Fuck if I know. I haven’t even spoken to her since she moved down here.”

  My mother’s mouth gaped like a fish. “Well why on earth didn’t you tell me you had a new girl? When do I get to meet her?”

  I shrugged. “As soon as you stop inviting my exes to dinner, I suppose.”

  She scowled at me.

  “Is it stock?” My dad asked.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and showed it to him. “Yes. Doesn’t make a difference, though. Things a beast. I bet it could hold its own on the quarter at Lone Star Speedway.”

  My father was holding the phone up to his face, his glasses raised so he could study the detail work on the paint when it rang in his hands.

  Handing it back to me, I scanned the caller ID and sighed. “Roberts.”

  “Your girl’s house was vandalized. No sign of her, though,” Downy’s chilly voice rumbled into my ear.

  I froze. “How bad is it?”

  Downy hummed for a few seconds before he said, “Not bad, per say. More like the girl won’t be able to close her door for a while. It’s been a while since it happened, though. There’s all kinds of debris and leaves in her house from the wind. Colder than fuck, too. Doors been open for a while.”

  “I’ll be right there,” I said and hung up.

  “I gotta go,” I said to my parents. “Reese’s house was vandalized and I haven’t been able to get ahold of her all day.”

  “Okay, honey. Be careful. I’ll take Katy back to Baylee’s with me. Come get her whenever you’re ready,” My mother said.

  I nodded and shook my father’s hand, gave Sebastian a nod at his position on the floor with the kids, and left. All the while I thought about how stupid I’d been to tell her not to come.

  I was a dumbass.

  ***

  By the time I found out where she was, four hours later, I was hot.

  She wasn’t answering her phone. Her house was a fucking mess. Her car had been trashed, and I couldn’t find her anywhere.

  Then I’d had to play phone tag calling each and every goddamn member of The Dixie Wardens looking for Grayson’s number, just to get ahold of Reese’s sister to see if she was with her.

  She was.

  And I found myself pulling up into the driveway, still fucking pissed.

  The forty five minute drive to Grayson’s place only served to make my anger simmer.

  I hadn’t known where she was for four long hours.

  How fucking hard would it be to send off a text message and let the man you’re seeing know where the fuck you are?

  I got out of my Dodge truck and slammed the door with a flick of my wrist, on a mission.

  I was set on my mission, too, until I was stopped by Grayson and his father before I even made it inside.

  They both looked worried.

  “Thank fuck!” Booney yelled. “I don’t think I could handle one more goddamned second of that shit!”

  I blinked in surprise. “What?”

  “Her ballin’ her eyes out about how fucking sad she is that no one wants to spend Thanksgiving Day with her,” Grayson sighed. “More cryin’ about how she wants another baby and wants a man to love her like her daddy loves her mom. Jesus, the girl’s probably cried more tears than you could fill a fuckin kiddie pool with.”

  The thought of Reese spending the night crying really tore me to shreds. Especially since I was the reason it’d happened. She wouldn’t have spent any of it alone if I hadn’t been thinking about myself.

  I put both hands on my head in frustration. “My fuckin’ mom invited my ex. I didn’t know what else to do!”

  Grayson shook his head like I was a dumbass, and honestly, I probably was. “You choose her. If you’re getting ass from her, you always choose her.”

  He said it slowly, almost as if I would comprehend it better if he did.

  “Fuck,” I said, taking the three steps that led up to the porch. “That’s not even why I came, unfortunately. I wish it was.”

  I said, glancing through the glass door inside.

  Reese and Tru were laying on the floor, a bottle of wine in between them with coffee cups as wine glasses.

  They were both facing each other, talking, I assumed.

  “And why’s that?” Booney asked as he leaned up against the wooden railing that surrounded the front porch.

  I turned my back on the glass door and looked out at my truck.

  “Reese’s place was trashed tonight. We’re not sure on the timeline. One of the neighbors that was home said that it happened somewhe
re in between three and five in the afternoon. Her couches are slit. Kitchen cabinets emptied. Food dumped out. Glasses smashed. Even Rowen’s room was trashed. Clothes were all torn to shreds. Her car was scratched to hell and back with what resembled a screwdriver. It was bad.”

  Grayson’s mouth tightened and his hands clenched into fists. “Goddamn bastards. I knew I shouldn’t have allowed Tru to go get her. If she hadn’t, her car would’ve at least been alright. What’s she going to do now? Were there any witnesses?”

  I shook my head. “None. The old man that called it in was the same one who gave us the time period. He’s the one that was in love with Reese’s car. Said he used to have one exactly like that when he was younger, that’s why his eyes always stray towards it. He did it when he was letting family in for dinner, he saw it and called the police.”

  “Fuck me,” Grayson growled. “Can’t do anything because it’s the day of Thanksgiving, and there’s no way I’m going out in this shit on Black Friday, nor am I letting the two of them go. She can stay…”

  “She’s going to be staying with me,” I interrupted.

  Grayson shook his head. “She won’t stay with you. She’s got some fucked up rule in her head that says she won’t live with a man until she’s married to him. Only reason I know that is because I heard it for the last four hours.”

  Well…we’d just see about that.

  Chapter 15

  As soon as this day’s over, I plan on having a nervous breakdown. Feel free to leave me the fuck alone, or you’ll be pulled in with me. On the plus side, there’ll be ice cream, so it won’t be all bad.

  -Secret thoughts of Reese

  Reese

  “I’m not staying with you. There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind,” I yelled, waving my hands in the air wildly.

  It was four in the morning and I had yet to go to sleep.

  After I’d sobered up, Luke had explained what was going on, and immediately brought me back to my place so I could see the damage.

  “Rowen,” Luke said.

  One word, and I knew I wouldn’t convince him.

  “We’ll be staying in separate rooms. And I’ll be sleeping in the garage apartment,” I compromised.